Junz was referring to widespread speculation, ostensibly sparked by his former party, that he and others had been bought to leave them.
“This is character assassination.”
“There’s no need to stoop so low and make unfounded accusations,” he said in a statement. “Such accusations are completely unfounded and wild.”
However, he added, he can understand if some of his former comrades were upset with him.
Junz stressed that as a member of DAP since 2010 he had worked hard for the party along with the others with him. “We spent our own money and expended energy in the fight.”
If indeed we are “opportunist politicians”, he said, “surely we would not have opted for DAP in the first place”.
If we are “opportunist politicians”, he added, “surely we would not join another opposition party.”
He noted that when PAS members left the party and formed Amanah, they were accepted with open arms by DAP. “We are still on the same side of the fence,” he said. “Hopefully our ex-comrades can understand and not hurl baseless accusations at us.”
He conceded that only time will tell whether he and the others made the right decision. “For now, we have to do everything to fight for Sabah,” said Junz.
Joan Goh, who left with Junz along with six other committee members, said the oft-cited “local sentiments” had been discussed by DAP Sabah but rejected by the party.
“Junz first raised the issue of local sentiments in the DAP Sabah Working Committee,” recalled Goh. “It’s not true to say that he destroyed the old house by bringing along seven committee members with him.”
She clarified that she left the party on her own accord after Umno Vice-President Shafie Apdal quit his party in line with “local sentiments”.
“A multiracial local party is the answer to Sabah’s political problems,” she said. “Sabah, as an equal partner of Sarawak and Malaya in the Federation, should be governed by a local party.”
“We can regain autonomy through a local party. I am Sabahan.”
Goh conceded that she and others did previously see a national-based party as a solution but that was no longer the case.
The situation, she said, had changed with leaders like Shafie leaving a national-based party.